TO MY YOUNGER SELF: 'JUST BE MORE PATIENT!'
Where did the young Steve Briggs go wrong all those years ago, and how did he manage to turn things around?
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve thought that if only I’d had this or that 30 years ago, how different it all might have been. However much we would like to turn back the clock, though, and put things right, we can’t. All we can do is learn from our mistakes, and fish more effectively as we gain experience. We live in an age where people want things instantly. The amount of information available certainly helps people catch more these days, but deep down we all know that real experience comes with time, and there’s no replacement for that.
During my early fishing life there were periods when I got things wrong, and my results suffered as a result. My time on Fox Pool in the late 1980s is a perfect example. In two years I never put a fish on the bank! I did manage to lose two early on, but as the blanks racked up, my confidence nose-dived, to the point where I knew that I was really on a hiding to nothing. All these years later, I’d love to go back and give myself a good talking to. I’ve absolutely no doubt that if I was able to return to the venue with the knowledge I have now, I would catch some of its prized fish, those that will now forever be missing from my albums.
My problem back then was a lack of commitment and confidence. This shouldn’t have been the case, though. I’d just had a really successful run on Darenth Tip Lake and had caught several of its biggest fish. The action had come fairly steadily, so what could go wrong? I went to Fox Pool with the same baits and I began with the same tactics, and sure enough, on only my third morning I had a screaming run. Unfortunately, I lost the fish in the dense weed. Nevertheless, the regulars were impressed that I’d had a run so soon. Evidently it could be a one- or two-fish-a-year water. Therein, though, lay the problem for me. Whilst I’d become used to regular action, it was never going to happen on Fox Pool.
The days passed, and as the next run didn’t materialise, I started to change things. I tried different baits and different rigs, and ended up in a spiral of uncertainty. Looking back, it seems absolutely crazy that I did all of that, but I see the same thing all the time these days with younger or less experienced anglers. After they’ve hit rock bottom, I’ll receive messages from them. They’ll ask what they should do, and it’s nice to be able to offer advice and see them start to catch again. It has helped them to know that I’ve been there and have come out the other side, but years ago there wasn’t that network of support or line of communication.
“Of course rigs and baits are important, but the biggest difference was what was going on between my ears!”
Most of the time, when anglers aren’t catching, they don’t blame themselves; it’s always the fault of the bait or the rig, and of course, that’s exactly what I was doing, looking for answers in the wrong places. I firmly believe that most carp-fishing problems are in the mind, so it’s all about getting your house in order and getting rid of all the clutter. That’s easier said than done, though. You need a clear line of thought regarding how you are going to approach a water, and you should stick with it. If you can get yourself to that point, suddenly the fog will start to clear. It took a long time to clear my mind of all the confusion, and for anyone coming into carp fishing now it must be even worse. There are so many rigs, so many components and so many baits, but somehow you have to settle on what you feel happy with. It wasn’t a penny-drop moment for me. Things gradually became clearer over a period of time.
Now, I don’t use that many rigs and I don’t use many baits. The important point, though, is that I have 100 per cent confidence in what I do use. I know they will work wherever I go, so if I’m not catching it’ll be for another reason. Either the fish aren’t feeding or I’m in the wrong place. If the fish aren’t feeding, there’s not much I can do about it. I don’t get frustrated as that’s out of my control. If I’m in the wrong place, I’ll do everything I can to get on them. That’s the simplicity of my angling. Don’t get me wrong, I work hard at my fishing, perhaps harder than I did during my early years, but that’s because I know in my mind that if I do manage to get on fish, I can catch them. During my time on Fox Pool, however, I could’ve been on them but would still have had doubts about whether I was actually going to catch one.
Just recently, we were talking about my time on the Mere, and when I look back, that period really showed the difference in my mindset. This was a far bigger and far more difficult water. A number of anglers had spent various lengths of time on there and not many had enjoyed any real success. It tested your mental strength to the limit, but by then I’d got through the bad times and had left them behind me. I had, as mentioned, a much better mindset. Okay, it was some of the hardest fishing I’ve ever experienced, but the blanks didn’t put me off. In fact, it wasn’t until my sixty-third night that I finally caught my first Mere carp. I went on to catch a few more of its lovely fish, including the biggest prize of all.
When I look back at those two different periods in my carp fishing, it’s hard to believe that I’m talking about the same person; the difference couldn’t be more stark. Of course rigs and baits are important, they always are. The biggest difference, though, was what was going on between my ears! If I could go back, I’d tell to my younger self to be more patient, and to have more belief in what I was doing. After all, what I had been doing had worked well. Occasionally, other factors come into play, and there will be times when, for whatever reason, it’s just not going to happen.
All these years later, I’m more comfortable with my angling than I ever have been, and I catch more more consistently because of that. I’ve settled on a way of fishing that works for me, and really, carp fishing is as simple as you want to make it. I don’t always catch, and there will always be anglers who catch more than me on their day. I’m okay with that, though, as I catch enough to make me happy. I just wish I could take that mindset and send it back through time to that young guy who was searching for confidence and ideas, when in reality, he had most of the things he needed. Whilst we can’t turn back the clock, we can learn from experience, and perhaps it’s the failures that drive us on and make us better in the long run.
